Metropolitan State College of Denver is so packed with students that officials are spending $24,000 a semester to rent space at a campus movie theater to hold classes.

Though enrollment is up at colleges across the state, those serving high-risk students, such as Metro and community colleges, feel the squeeze the most.

Enrollment is up 19 percent since the fall of 2008 at 13 community colleges across Colorado, and nearly 60 programs are full and putting students on wait lists.

In November, enrollment at the 13 schools totaled almost 83,000, according to the Colorado Community College System.

Precious Holt, a 12th grader with dangly earrings and a SpongeBob pillow, climbs on the yellow school bus and promptly falls asleep for the hour-plus ride to Sandhills Community College.

When the bus arrives, she checks in with a guidance counselor and heads off to a day of college classes, blending with older classmates until 4 p.m., when she and the other seniors from SandHoke Early College High School gather for the ride home.

There is a payoff for the long bus rides: The 48 SandHoke seniors are in a fast-track program that allows them to earn their high-school diploma and up to two years of college credit in five years -- completely free.

President Obama laid out several initiatives on Jan. 27 that he hoped would advance the cause for higher education in America. We note that two of the three mentioned are positive for the for-profit education sector. However, we view the most important initiative as a net negative for the sector.

The first was a proposed $10,000 tax credit for four years of college education. This should be viewed positively, as the tax credit will increase incremental demand in the for-profit sector. Schools which have a focus on bachelor's degrees would benefit more as a result. We would especially like to single out companies such as Strayer Education(STRA) and DeVry(DV) as beneficiaries.